More Than You Bargained For
by shortstackedcheesecake
Summary: A young archaeologist, Kyle thinks uncovering a perfectly preserved Egyptian prince will launch his career. But one night in the lab changes everything forever. A fluffy three-parter. Kyman. Rated M.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** _My first multi chapter after a Brief History of A Lifetime. Eek. It's only three parts but I've been wanting to write this AU for a while. Hope you enjoy and I'd love to hear your thoughts! Thank you for reading!_

* * *

 _"Well, boys, I don't think this trip could've gone any better," Wendy said as she entered the large tent, where Token and Kyle were carefully packing the discovered, ancient artefacts; covered in layers of bubblewrap amongst other things to stop them crumbling._

 _The Smithsonian curators could do marvellous things, but Kyle felt that his crew could at least make their jobs easier. Repairing four thousand year old relics was not a simple task._

 _Wendy placed another crate on the ground, before brushing her hair out of her eyes and wiping her sweaty brow. Two months in Egypt had left her bronzed, whereas Kyle was sunburnt, his freckles coming out of hiding._

 _"Agreed," Token grinned, before shaking his head and chuckling, "Doctor Tucker wishes he'd had this much luck in Machu Picchu."_

 _"Now, now, Tucker's excavation proved to be very successful and we know it," Wendy interjected. She was careful to not humour the rivalry that existed between the two departments. "Isn't that why we fought so hard for our grants?"_

 _"And that fight paid off," Kyle replied. Maybe it was due to the debilitating desert heat, but when he saw the first glimpse of bountiful treasure glittering in the sand he had felt breathless… and a little teary._

 _"I'd say so!" Token added, before gesturing to the strangest and grandest find of them all. "We bagged a prince, for crying out loud!"_

 _Three pairs of eyes immediately went to the tall, amber slab where a royal body was distinguishable. Not a skeleton, or a rotting corpse, but a prince frozen in time. Among the vases and ornaments, Kyle had nearly yelped when he saw wide, still eyes staring up at him through an amber pane._

 _As if he had just set eyes on Medusa, Kyle had stood still, eventually thawing out from his curse with a trembling hand and a silent, stuttering mouth. Five minutes had passed before Kyle was able to call out to his team, his voice shrill and uneven when he did so. But they couldn't exactly mock him when they saw what Kyle had discovered, they were just as speechless._

 _"A perfectly preserved body, despite no mummification," Kyle whispered, still gazing at the slab. "It's incredible! Not only from a historical standpoint, but scientifically… how has this happened?" Kyle stepped forward, ever since they uncovered the body he had wanted to take a closer look. He was glad that they had decided to pack this particular find up last, he had more time to stare. "This… th-this amber casing must have properties that- but why would they use it in the first place?" He turned to his slightly amused colleagues. "Why discard years of tradition and customs for one prince?"_

 _Wendy sighed. "I have no idea, but hopefully the other treasures we've uncovered will provide us with clues."_

 _Kyle eyes roamed the amber block. It gleamed almost like a confectionary. The figure was murky beneath, but Kyle knew that it would be the discovery that launched his career into the stratosphere. To be an archaeologist at such a prestigious institution was a huge achievement – especially at his age – but to make such a remarkable discovery would make him a hero in his field. Life changing doesn't even cover it…_

 _"I can't wait to get back home… to really study this thing…" Kyle could feel himself becoming breathless again, he was careful not to start bouncing on his tiptoes. Instead, he turned to Token with a grin, "How much you wanna bet that Craig will be green with envy?"_

 _"Especially when Doctor Victoria won't be able to stop talking about it," Token replied._

 _"I knew coming to this region would be beneficial," Kyle continued, ever since he had first read about this neglected desert kingdom he was itching to go. "It's so scarcely written about, so vaguely documented; you can't help but be drawn to the mystery!"_

 _"Good catch, Kyle," Wendy smiled._

 _"We could be making history over here!" Token laughed._

 _Kyle was in no doubt that nothing would ever be the same, and the mysteries would only keep coming the deeper they dug._

* * *

It had been nearly a month since their return from Egypt and Kyle had never worked harder. As expected, their colleagues at the museum were curious and impressed by their findings, firing intrigued questions that Kyle, Wendy and Token gladly answered, ignoring Craig's muttered accusations of the Egyptology team being "grave robbers."

But this prince was a scientific anomaly hidden for thousands of years and it was the opinion of those who embarked on the dig that it was their duty to learn from him and figure out why he was buried in such a way, and how he was preserved like this.

Still believing the discovery was to be a turning point in his career, Kyle elected himself to lead the project. While Wendy and Token contributed to his research and testing, Kyle very much saw the work as solely his and therefore the prince was his responsibility. Especially when he was staying in the lab late into the night trying to unravel the mystery, and found it occupying his thoughts even when he returned home.

But even after all the hours put in, every resource at this disposal used, and despite Kyle pouring all his determination and effort into this case he still couldn't find a feasible explanation for why such an anomaly had occurred. The biological implications admittedly swam over his head, but even in the anthropological and archaeological arena he was most comfortable in, he was still puzzled and left to make educated guesses.

Every speculation had a constant, and that was that the body in the amber slab had been put there as punishment. What could his royal highness have done to be denied proper funeral rites, theoretically wiping him from history? Had he been disowned? Estranged?

In the quieter hours of the night, these possibilities made Kyle's tired heart ache for the abandoned, nameless prince. While Kyle was still no closer to finding out the truth about what happened thousands of years ago to his discovery, he could at least right one wrong. He could give his prince a name. Everyone deserves that. So Kyle named him Eric, after the author of the first Egyptology book he ever read as a teenager. He thought it suited him, though his features were still murky beneath the honeyed tomb.

Kyle had not divulged Eric's new name to anyone, especially since Token and Wendy had ripped on him for being so enthusiastic about the prince in the first place. But given the amount of time Kyle was spending with him, how could he not become attached to Eric? Fond of him? Feel pity for him despite the equal amount of fascination and irritation he brought him? But he wasn't obsessed, no, he definitely wasn't obsessed. He was just passionate about his work, of solving possibly the biggest mystery in Ancient Egypt.

It was 10PM and Kyle was still in the laboratory. Although he couldn't argue with his bosses, it frustrated him that he couldn't take larger samples of the material Eric was encased in. It was argued that it would be best not to disturb both the slab and the body, especially since it was to be an exhibit soon. Kyle wanted to argue it was too late to be worrying about disturbing the prince when they had already flown him over an ocean and were picking away at his tomb, anyway. Maybe Craig was right…

Such a careful process was slow and time-consuming, at least that's what Kyle told himself was the reason for staying all night again. Not like it mattered, it's not as if Kyle had anybody to come home to. And he occasionally wondered maybe such fixations, such stubbornness, such intensity he placed on his projects was the reason for his… not _loneliness_ , but his romantic encounters falling to the wayside as of late. He couldn't dwell on it too much though, and it was easy to quickly divert his thoughts to what he was doing at the present moment. Right now, it was inspecting a small sample of amber under a microscope for the fiftieth time.

A muffled groan distracted him. Kyle furrowed his eyebrows, looked up from his work but concluded that he must've been hearing things, and that maybe he should go home pretty soon and get some sleep. Hesitantly, Kyle continued peering into the microscope before he heard the groans again, louder and interspersed by incomprehensible shouting. The shouts were not only nonsensical to Kyle, but stifled too, as if… it was coming from behind a screen.

His discomfiting heartbeat in his ears and his back rigid, Kyle stiffly straightened and was careful to be slow when he turned around. Eric, a stranger, an impossibility, was propped up in his natural tomb like a fake skeleton in a science classroom, unassuming were it not for the fact that Kyle knew he was somehow making those noises, that the sound travelled directly from him. And Kyle realised then just how little he really knew.

Gulping, Kyle took silent, arduous steps forward, to take a closer look. He suspected that anybody else would've ran, anybody sensible would've done just that. But Kyle wasn't sensible, not when it came to his gut, his heart, his drive. Common sense was drowned out by his roaring determination, it was left black and scorching in his pride's wake. Kyle was not only terrified, but fascinated and a quiet, flickering part of him knew that Eric was in distress. The shouting grew louder, manic, and was punctuated by pleading thumps and the closer Kyle got, he could see the shadows of two fists pounding under the lights.

Before Kyle could say or do anything, one of the fists burst through the slab, squelching as it did and sending rubbery debris to splatter on the floor. Kyle screamed and jumped backwards, clutching his chest as his lungs and heart seemed to be competing over who could heave and beat faster. Shaking, wide-eyed and undoubtedly drained of colour, Kyle watched in awe as the four thousand year old prince pulled apart at his tomb, the consistency of which Kyle discovered was like molasses, weighing down on Eric still even after he had broken free.

Kyle imagined the stiff, ancient joints in Eric's limbs creaking with every clumsy movement, his consciousness rushing back to him like headlights as confused grumbles fell from his mouth. Finally, Eric stumbled out, swaying under bright clinical lighting, his ankles elastic and throwing off his equilibrium. His heavy eyes met Kyle and widened, in his panic he collapsed into a stool behind him.

Kyle had never imagined what he would say to Eric. Fuck, he never thought he'd have to! He had no idea what to open with, shock was smothering his ability to speak.

"Wh- what's going on?!" Kyle finally yelled, making Eric jump in fright. Not the best start. He sighed. "A-re you okay?"

Eric furrowed his eyebrows, his obvious malaise making him shaky and unable to register Kyle's question.

 _He can't understand you, idiot!_

"Shit!" Kyle muttered, running a hand through his hair. Now what was he supposed to do? This situation was chaotic enough without the language barrier.

Looking to Eric, Kyle saw that his face was creased, and he was groaning as he pressed a hand to his forehead.

 _He's probably starving. Not to mention dehydrated._

The realisation clicked, and Kyle smiled, rushing to his bag and pulling out a bottle of apple juice and an energy bar. Finally, he was being helpful. At least he had some semblance of control over this.

Eric was still groaning and shaking when Kyle went over to him. Eric glanced briefly at Kyle, shielding himself from the harsh lighting above them.

An adrenaline Kyle had never felt before was pulsing inside him, and his fingers were jittery as he unwrapped the energy bar. The rustling sound was obviously strange to Eric and he watched Kyle intently.

"H-h-here…" Kyle said, handing the bar and juice to Eric.

The prince was reluctant, staring at the items in his hands before casting Kyle a quizzical, almost affronted look. A crease in his brow, Kyle wondered what it was exactly that Eric was failing to understand. He then noticed the bottle was sealed firmly shut, and he wordlessly took it from Eric and opened it for him.

Eyeing the drink for all of five seconds, Eric gladly started to gulp the apple juice, depleting the bottle's contents by half before moving onto the energy bar, chewing loudly and gratefully.

Kyle sighed, Eric appeared to be sated, his nerves and fragility waning now that he had some much needed sustenance. Kyle's shock too, was dissipating but he was still in awe, just like he had been when they first set eyes on each other in the desert. When Kyle was eager to find something incredible, and Eric's own gaze was sad and numb. Now, Eric's eyes were very much alive and a more gentle fascination started to bloom in Kyle's mind, there was so much more to marvel over.

The life-sustaining qualities of that amber material Kyle could only describe as magical, and Eric was remarkable. Kyle knelt down to his level, while Eric was distracted by his food and drink. He never thought he would see Eric in such a way, for he was hardly a cadaver, a body worn away by time. He was still a young man, and well –covered too, his shoulders broad, his face full and belly still round and soft after all these years away from the palace. The bronze glow of his ochre skin reminded Kyle of the sun setting over the pyramids, and his topaz eyes shimmered regally. Handsome and perfectly intact, the only part of Eric that had diminished was his clothing. His sandals were faded, his shendyt was now yellowing and threadbare, and his once proud Nemes headdress was perched lopsidedly on his head. The defiant blue and gold stripes were struggling to shine, much like the tarnished gold cuff on his arm and the sapphire ring on his middle finger.

Eric blinked, and returned Kyle's stare, furrowing his eyebrows at this strange man in a long, white coat gazing at him. Unstoppable colour immediately flooded Kyle's cheeks and he stood up, coughing into his first awkwardly and offering Eric an apologetic nod.

"This is incredible…" Kyle whispered, before returning to his bag and finding his phone.

He called Token, and tried his hardest not to stare.

* * *

It only took Wendy and Token about twenty minutes to join Kyle in the lab, but the temptation to stare at Eric and search for answers in his bewildered eyes made the seconds drag on torturously.

Kyle didn't want to frighten Eric, or confuse him further, but he was helpless to stop studying him. That's what Kyle did, uncover what had been kept hidden and place it in the light. It would take a while to undo that way of thinking. But he wasn't dealing with a vase, or a dusty scroll, he was dealing with an actual human being.

At least he could take comfort in the fact that Eric appeared to be just as curious and fascinated by him. There was such scrutiny, such desperation for answers in Eric's intense, golden stare that Kyle found himself wilting at the force of it all. And with the heavy lights weighing down on him, he feared he would perish.

When Wendy and Token finally arrived they could only mimic Kyle's behaviour. It was in their nature too, after all. They studied Eric intently, peered at him like the tiniest chip that had flaked off a crumbled masterpiece, or the only discernible letters in a particularly challenging crossword puzzle clue.

Eric had blinked, frowned, resumed the crease in his brow and kept looking to Kyle. Even if Eric wasn't totally sure what was happening to him right now, in a strange place surrounded by people he didn't know, Kyle could've sworn that defensive front was slowly lifting. Every time he glanced at Kyle, Eric's eyes were a little wider, his lips parted as if he wanted to verbally communicate what his expression were conveying. But he and Kyle were still lost in translation. Although after barely an hour together, Eric knew that he should somehow trust Kyle. The person who gave him food and drink, the first face he had seen in thousands of years.

That was important, Kyle knew it, and it made Eric's presence slightly less daunting. He smiled tightly at Eric, hoping it would provide comfort if not clarity. But Kyle still felt like he was floundering in this extraordinary situation.

"Well?" Kyle asked, arms folded over his chest. "Any thoughts?"

"I… he… this…" Wendy tried to find her words before she laughed disbelievingly. "It's pretty miraculous. "

"Right?!" Kyle exclaimed.

"It's baffling!" Token added. "How are we ever going to explain this?"

"I don't know," Kyle sighed, trailing his gaze over Eric. "I don't even understand how this could have happened."

"We just need to keep studying the amber," Wendy offered, one hand on her hip. "Call in some help from the biology guys."

"I doubt they'd be any quicker finding an answer," Kyle said.

"True, but this is really their game," Token replied.

"But what happens to this guy?" Wendy asked, gesturing to Eric.

"After the amber goes through God knows how many rounds of testing you can bet your ass that'll be going on display," Token answered. "As for him? I don't know…"

The assumption prompted Kyle's gag reflex, fear lurching in his throat. He stared at Eric, innocent and disorientated, and winced at the thought of him being exploited like that, taken advantage of, and waking up to such a dehumanising experience. The fear lodged in his throat turned into disgust which was even more difficult to swallow, and his apprehension combusted angrily.

"You don't know? It's obvious, isn't it?!" Kyle exclaimed. "He's alive! They can't just let people gawk at him without his permission! It's inhumane, and, a-a-and unfair to Eric!"

Token arched an eyebrow and chuckled, "wait, who?"

" _Eric_?" Wendy smirked.

Kyle froze, in his frustration he hadn't realised he said that.

Token and Wendy were waiting, amused, for a response and Kyle's cheeks were scorching. Due to the commotion, Eric was now staring at Kyle too and it was when Kyle noticed those topaz eyes on him that he huffed and fidgeted, vying for an explanation.

"Well… w-w-well yeah, I mean, we don't know his real name so I thought I'd give him one," Kyle said, shrugging as if to appear nonchalant.

"You think it suits him?" Token asked.

Kyle slid his gaze to Eric, and although their worlds were totally different Kyle couldn't imagine him being anything else.

"Yeah, I think it does," he said with another shrug, his face cooling down.

Token and Wendy were still smirking at him, and Kyle gritted his teeth and rolled his eyes.

"Look, it doesn't matter, okay?" He snapped. "I'll email Doctor Victoria and we can all talk about this. Ultimately, it's her call."

"Alright, but you're not going to leave Eric here overnight, are you?" Token asked.

"Where else is he going to go?" Wendy interjected.

Token grinned smugly. "Well, since Kyle named him I think it's only fair that he offer his couch for the night."

Wendy hid her giggles behind her hand, while Token pursed his lips to conceal his bubbling laughter. Kyle scowled at them, but when he glanced at Eric he softened. After all, he was a person who needed help. And Kyle didn't see anything funny or strange in helping him out.

"Of course he can stay with me until we figure out what to do," Kyle replied, sounding surer than he really felt, but when he looked at Eric it was reaffirmed that he was doing the right thing.

* * *

Eric had shivered and wrapped his arms around his wide, bare chest when he and Kyle crossed the parking lot. Raised in an arid, desert climate, he was obviously unaccustomed to the colder nights. But the chill was on Kyle's side, as it made Eric less reluctant to get into his car. However strange Eric perceived the vehicle to be, it was warm, and getting out of the cold appeared to be Eric's main concern.

It was a short drive to Kyle's apartment, and at every traffic light Kyle took the opportunity to keep an eye on Eric. One minute he was staring up at tall, twinkling buildings, absorbing the bright night, and the next he was dozing off in the passenger seat. Ironically, Kyle considered, since he had presumably been comatose for a couple millennia. But Kyle was exhausted too and if Eric's fatigue meant he could just arrive home and go straight to sleep then he didn't exactly mind.

When they arrived home, Kyle immediately began pulling out the mattress hidden in his couch with Eric hovering over his shoulder watching him. This led to an awkward collision of noses when Kyle turned around, his face flushing and muttering something about a duvet although Eric had no idea what he was even talking about.

Cursing under his breath, Kyle went to his bedroom and found the spare duvet and pillows he kept for guests and when he returned to his living room, he caught Eric studying the TV. Kyle couldn't help but smirk. Perhaps he would teach him how it worked tomorrow.

Kyle placed the duvet and pillows on the makeshift mattress while Eric's eyes roamed the walls.

"You can sleep here," Kyle said once he was finished.

Eric arched an eyebrow, gaze switching from the couch to Kyle.

"Here?" Kyle asked, before throwing the quilt back so it looked more inviting. "Here… "

Eric nodded and sat on the bed, the questionable springs creaked with the added weight.

"Well…" Kyle began, with a small clap of his hands. "Good night…"

As expected, Eric remained quiet and Kyle sighed to himself before returning to his bedroom. He didn't bother undressing, or brushing his teeth, he just collapsed onto his mattress and stared up at the ceiling.

His thoughts were racing; any desire to sleep had vanished.

* * *

Eric awoke before Kyle, and it was as if no time had passed.

Kyle had entered his living room in the clothes he was wearing the day previously, while Eric was still curiously padding around the apartment. His presence felt different in the daytime, real and inexorable. In the night Kyle could've kidded himself that it was a dream, a vivid hallucination brought about by lack of sleep and too much work. But noticing Eric that morning it felt like the sunlight had streamed in and illuminated what was shrouded. Kyle knew then, that this wasn't a dream anymore.

Both their eyes had widened upon seeing each other, not anticipating any interaction with each other after they had just woken up. But Eric had smiled sheepishly even if he was still rather puzzled, and Kyle gladly smiled back. He ruined it with a yawn though, contagious enough to make Eric reciprocate.

They had eaten their breakfast in silence, and since Kyle had no clue what Eric's preferences were, their meals had been identical. While Eric slurped at his cereal, Kyle had emailed Doctor Victoria with shaky fingers. No matter how many times Kyle erased and redrafted the message it still sounded like an inappropriate joke that overfamiliar employees would send to their bosses.

While he waited for her reply, Kyle had tried to distract himself from dwelling on whatever that may be by mentally scouring his wardrobe to see if he had anything that would fit Eric. All that came to mind were sweats he wore when sprawled out on the couch watching reality TV and cartoons, and the baggy t-shirts he sometimes wore when he went jogging.

It was hardly fitting for a prince, and Eric looked like he had no intention of stepping out the apartment door by the time Kyle was done with him, but it had to do. Besides, Eric hadn't complained. Kyle had missed Eric's initial reaction to the clothes as he had tried as hard as possible not to look while Eric was changing. But he had helped Eric tug his t-shirt on when the stubborn scruff refused to pull over his face. There had been the slightest tinge of blush on Eric's cheeks, his gaze on his feet. Kyle had been unable to stop a smirk from appearing on his face.

Kyle had just come out the shower when Doctor Victoria replied to him; he had also received a separate email from her that was addressed to everyone. The subject: 'Emergency Meeting.' Kyle found his breakfast hard to hold down after reading that.

Now, he and Eric were stood at the head of the conference room with Kyle's colleagues unabashedly gawping like Eric was a carnival attraction and Kyle was looking to con them out of a couple dollars. They all spoke over each other in the same hushed, over-excited tone like bees buzzing around a hive. In fact, Kyle couldn't distinguish one voice from another:

"Well…"

"I'm speechless!"

"But there must be some explanation?"

"Where would we begin?"

Eric's eyes were rapidly searching the crowd, sometimes focusing on the mouths of Kyle's rude colleagues, stubbornly trying to wrangle sense out of them. That deep, bewildered crease resurfaced on Eric's brow and it was becoming clearer in the daylight that Eric's frustration was a mask for his fear. He still appeared intimidating, but Kyle was beginning to understand, his sympathy for Eric overriding anything off-putting.

It had been hours, but Kyle was tentatively becoming stronger, braver, and he hoped Eric was at least starting to become comfortable around him. In lieu of being able to ask the question outright, or offering Eric comfort in the form of verbal reassurances, Kyle took a quiet breath and reached out for Eric's hand.

Eric flinched, and Kyle was actually relieved to feel it. Facial expressions are not always enough to gauge a person's emotional state. Kyle kept his grip gentle, his eyes, on Eric. He hoped a soft touch would be a universal indicator of care, and Kyle hoped that as Eric's only constant to this very new world, it would mean something.

Eric smiled at Kyle, tight and grateful, before looking to their linked hands and giving Kyle's fingers a quick squeeze.

"No sign of decomposition at all!"

"Not even cerebral damage!"

"Now, that we can't be too sure of. The lack of oxygen could have-"

"Especially if he was unconscious for so long…"

"But how do we know he was?"

"Fascinating… and why now? Any theories, Doctor Broflovski?"

With a question finally directed at him, Kyle slid his hand out of Eric's own.

"Personally, I think that he was unconscious up until last night," he replied. "Perhaps the change in environment prompted him to come to?"

"Seems feasible…" Doctor Kenny McCormick piped up (the first person Kyle had been introduced to when he started working at the museum and the only person Kyle was friends with in the biology department).

"You're only saying that because it's the only explanation we have," a typically bitter Craig argued.

"I believe I'm the biology expert here, Tucker, and for now I fully endorse Broflovski's theory," Kenny replied.

"Quit the squabbling, boys," Doctor Victoria spoke, rising from her chair and making her way over to the crowd that had gathered around Eric. She pushed her thick-rimmed glasses further up her nose. "The question now is what becomes of the poor soul? He has no family, he doesn't speak the language, he needs to adapt to modern life somehow, so what can we do to aid him in that? Any suggestions?"

For once, the room fell silent. Kyle had spent most of the night observing his spinning thoughts like a baby observes a mobile, but it was futile when he had no idea how to discuss those ideas with Eric, or whether these were ideas Eric would agree to.

"Ma'am," Wendy piped up. "I don't think Doctor Broflovski would mind me saying that he and the, uh, prince, have established some kind of bond. After all, Doctor Broflovski has been putting in countless hours studying him since our return from Egypt."

"Yes, that's true," Doctor Victoria considered before turning to Kyle, "he does appear to be rather comfortable around you, Doctor Broflovski."

Kyle glanced at Eric, and almost magnetically Eric's gaze followed.

"I, I suppose…" Kyle nodded.

"He stayed with you last night, didn't he?" Doctor Victoria asked.

"Yes, ma'am, he did."

"And everything was fine, I assume?"

"I think so," Kyle replied. It had been awkward and a bit difficult but Kyle had expected nothing less… in fact, he never expected anything like this to happen to him at all.

"Is he wearing your clothes?" Craig suddenly asked.

Kyle scowled and tried to reply as placidly as possible, "Yes, because his were falling apart and not really suitable for the fall."

He almost wanted to hold Eric's hand again, as if soothing the offense that Eric obviously hadn't registered. But Kyle thought better of it.

Doctor Victoria smiled; a knowing smile that Kyle wasn't exactly fond of.

"I would say that – in a rather short amount of time - you've taken rather good care of him," she remarked.

"I'm trying, ma'am," Kyle replied honestly. "I don't want him to feel any unnecessary distress."

Doctor Victoria nodded, looking between Kyle and Eric.

"Good," she smiled. "So would you be willing to let him stay with you for the time being? Help him integrate into modern life?"

Kyle blinked, he thought of his job, his small apartment, how big of an undertaking this would be. But then he looked at Eric, alone, and confused, and with literally nothing. He needed somebody, and Kyle already felt like he was his responsibility.

"Sure," Kyle nodded.

After all, he couldn't very well abandon Eric after finding him in the first place.


	2. Chapter 2

Two days since the 'Emergency Meeting' and Kyle felt he was doing a sufficient job of teaching Eric how to adapt to the modern world. It was difficult to decide what to start with, since Eric had slept through thousands of years of progress. But Kyle figured it was best to start with Eric's immediate surroundings, which was his apartment.

Since Eric had been so fascinated with the TV Kyle had chosen that as their starting point. But standing in front of the TV and rambling about its purpose and functions hadn't exactly been helpful. It was only a couple of minutes into the lecture when Eric had given up trying to decipher Kyle's words and his eyes had glazed over, did Kyle realise Eric was unable to absorb any information. So he had joined Eric on the couch, remote in hand. He had turned on the TV and Eric watched, fascinated, as Kyle flipped through the channels and raised and lowered the volume.

Pleased that Eric had a basic grasp of how to operate the television, Kyle had wanted to move onto the kitchen so he could teach Eric the wonders of the fridge, but Eric was engrossed in a _Jerry Springer_ re-run and it took all Kyle's patience and muscles to pull Eric away from the couch.

The fridge had been a pretty simple subject; food either gets put in or taken out. But Eric's eyes had widened and shone when Kyle placed their hands inside and the sudden coldness bit their fingertips.

Now, Kyle was standing in his bathtub, trying to teach Eric how the shower worked.

"You press this button to turn the water on…" Kyle said, pressing the button and stepping back just in time, dodging the steady stream. He glanced at Eric and wondered if his curious expression would ever become tiring.

"And this button to turn it off," Kyle added, rolling up his sleeve and pressing the 'off' button. "Okay?"

Eric's determination to understand hardened his intrigued gaze.

"On…" Kyle said, standing back and pressing the button again. "Off…"

Kyle leaned forward and the stream came to a stop. He looked to Eric and he nodded, glancing between the shower head and Kyle.

"Alright. This dial," Kyle pointed to the large dial next to the 'on' button, "makes the water hot or cold."

Turning the shower back on, Kyle wrapped his fingers around Eric's bare wrist and held it under the water. He then twisted the dial and watched as water splashed against their skin and dripped from their fingers.

"You just twist it and it'll change," Kyle added, the water alternated between hot and cold and his eyes were still fixed on Eric's wrist in his hand.

The reason Kyle couldn't stop staring wasn't because he was mesmerised, or tense, or uncomfortable, but because it actually felt nice. The moment, though odd, wasn't something Kyle was ready to relinquish.

But he didn't protest when Eric's arm slid out of his grip, instead he watched Eric lean forward and stretch out his arm, soaking more of his skin. The sound of rushing water and Eric's curious movements was almost hypnotic, but Kyle was broken from his strange trance when Eric lifted his hand and splashed Kyle in the face.

Kyle blinked and spluttered, taking that as a lesson for getting too carried away. He scowled at Eric, but the prince was chuckling.

"Very funny…" Kyle smirked, turning the shower off and stepping out of the tub.

"If you wanted you could run a bath too," he added. He knelt down and, as usual, Eric followed his instructor.

"Turn this…" Kyle said, reaching over and turning the faucet, "and eventually the tub will be full."

They watched the cool water run and the return of that soothing rushing sound reminded Kyle of how off-guard he had been and the cheeky price he had to pay. Eric's attention was on the rising water, and Kyle grinned slyly before dipping his hand in and splashing Eric's face.

Eric's nose was scrunched for a second, and when he blinked droplets fell from his lashes and landed on the rim of the tub. He turned to Kyle and frowned, and Kyle tried his hardest not to laugh gloatingly, he wanted to be nonchalant. He shrugged instead, and pretended not to notice Eric's smirk.

* * *

Although Eric was becoming increasingly familiar with (and hopefully comfortable in) Kyle's apartment, Kyle didn't think it was a fair decision, or a wise one, to leave him there all day while he went to work.

Besides, once Eric had even the slightest grasp of English he could help Kyle in discovering exactly what the amber was and what had happened for Eric to be sealed in his tomb in the first place. Hanging out with Kyle in the lab also gave Eric the opportunity to catch up on all the history he had missed in one of the most famous museums in the world.

Kyle, Token, and Wendy decided to spend their lunch break giving Eric a tour of the Smithsonian, and they had just reached the 'Eternal Life of Egypt' exhibit, thinking it would be of some interest to the prince. Still, this particular exhibit was a source of awkwardness for Kyle and his team. After all, before they knew Eric was alive and exactly what that amber was capable of, Eric was going to be the main attraction.

While the amber was still eventually going to be shown to the public, Eric was obviously not. That was at least something to soothe the uneasiness in Kyle's chest; Eric was safe and Kyle was going to make sure that he had the chances and opportunities he deserved. The confident, impressed gleam in Eric's eyes as he gladly absorbed a culture he still remembered also put Kyle's mind and heart to rest, and he felt like he was a little brighter due to the radiance Eric reflected, still connected to the life he had once lived.

But when they passed a shrivelled, ancient skeleton kept behind glass however, surrounded by the worn, important objects that the Ancient Egyptians felt were necessary to bring to the afterlife, Kyle hurried Eric along. He didn't want Eric to be reminded that he was given no such consideration in his burial, for reasons that still eluded Kyle.

Token and Wendy were ahead of them, chatting about the amber and its place in the exhibit, while Kyle's mind was simultaneously on the man next to him and deep into the past. But Eric strayed from Kyle's side, his fascinated gaze wandering to the stunning, golden masks staring nobly from behind the glass.

Kyle and his team fell silent, watching Eric take slow steps towards the display.

"Seems the masks have caught his eye…" Wendy murmured.

Taking his time to look at each one, a smile spread across Eric's face and made his glassy eyes crinkle at the corners.

Kyle's breath was bated, and he stepped forward, attempting to read Eric's face and infiltrate his silent, overwhelmed bubble. He watched as Eric slowly raised his hand, fingers curled as if he wanted to trace every corner of every feature of every regal mask.

"Eric, you can't do that," Kyle said, managing to find his voice.

But it was futile; Eric still couldn't comprehend Kyle's strange language. But he could register touch. He could register limitations and barriers. His fingertips met glass and his smile drooped. Dejected, he slid his digits down the pane, and Kyle saw Eric's frown mar his face like a scar before he ducked his head and rooted his gaze to the floor.

Sympathy once again welled up in Kyle's chest for Eric; he supposed it would keep reoccurring with every setback. But Kyle had a remedy, and he hoped it would never falter. Stepping forward, Kyle gently reached for Eric's limp fingers, stroking them and coaxing a response.

Though his head was still hung, Kyle saw Eric's gaze shift to his inviting hand and barely a second later their fingers were intertwined once again. Cool, soft and comfortable.

"We should probably keep going," Kyle said to Token and Wendy, who were smart enough not to comment.

They nodded, and Kyle and Eric followed them still hand in hand.

* * *

His working day over, Kyle decided to continue showing Eric around. They had covered most of the museum, and Kyle wanted some fresh air, so instead he had taken a detour from his usual route home and he and Eric had visited the Lincoln Memorial.

When they had reached the top of the steps Eric was a little breathless, and while exhilarated himself, Kyle had still taken hold of Eric's hand eagerly and led him inside. Eric had still been panting when he stared up at the large, stern-faced statue, and Kyle had wondered if the immortalised president reminded Eric of the giant tributes to the pharaohs he no doubt saw in his palace, forever watching over their family and subjects.

It had struck Kyle then, that Eric hadn't always been alone.

Ever since Kyle had taken Eric home nearly a week ago, he was used to seeing Eric in awe, bewildered. But he had never seen him so excited and eager as when Kyle introduced Eric to the camera on his phone. Kyle had taken one picture of the memorial and Eric was clambering to get his hands on the wonderful device.

He had taken one picture after another; several of the president, a few of the Washington Monument, a couple of the groups of tourist milling around and taking their own photographs, and a dozen of Kyle.

Even when they were waiting in line to get pretzels at the bottom of the steps, Eric was still taking pictures of the auburn trees, the blushing sky, and the sidewalk while Kyle ordered. Nudging Eric with a small laugh, Kyle led them over to an empty bench with their snacks in hand.

The day was settling into a brisk evening, and although Eric had to make do with one of Kyle's scarves, the cheapest coat he could find, and a pair of old sneakers from his big-footed neighbour, he didn't appear cold; well-covered and his body silently adapting to the climate, if only everything else came as easy. But Kyle felt confident in his teaching, and in Eric's progress.

"Here you go…" Kyle said, handing Eric his pretzel.

Eric inspected the oddly-shaped snack, as if he wasn't entirely sure what he was supposed to do with it. Kyle bit into his own pretzel and tapped Eric's shoulder, feeling a tad self-conscious as Eric watched him chew. Eric's dark eyebrows quirked and he copied Kyle, his teeth tentatively sinking into the dough.

"Do you like it?" Kyle asked after Eric had taken a few more bites.

He had never realised how much of a reflex talking was until he met Eric. Even when he knew Eric couldn't understand him, Kyle still felt the need to attempt conversation and fill the silence. Maybe that was something he needed to work on? Along with gaining a fluency in Eric's actions?

Kyle knew, however, that Eric's devouring of the pretzel was a positive answer to his question, and he laughed quietly and rolled his eyes. Before he could return to his food though, Kyle noticed his phone still on Eric's lap.

"Let's take a look at those photos," he said, retrieving his phone without protest.

When Eric saw that Kyle was looking at his pictures, he shuffled closer to him and they scrolled through the photos together. Kyle was stunned, never had his album been full of such impressive photographs. Without Kyle's help, Eric had figured out how to zoom in and out and how to fiddle with the various filters.

Eric had managed to bring out the light in the shadowed observatory, eliciting a chalky glow from the shrouded statue of the president, as well as sharpening the edges of the tall monument and catching the bouncing reflections off the water. Kyle was amazed, not only by the lovely pictures, but Eric's potential.

When they reached the photos of unsuspecting tourists, Kyle snickered. He shook his head and felt the soft hum of Eric's laughter beside him, as warm and bristling as joined hands. But those photos quickly made way for different ones, pictures of Kyle that he didn't know Eric had taken.

Of course there ones of Kyle smiling and grinning compliantly for the camera, but there were also ones where he was looking at the floor, at the landmarks, or into space. Snapshots of Kyle that to anybody else would've been unremarkable and fleeting, but Kyle noticed that Eric had considerately edited each one to bring out the most of each photo. And in every one the background was slightly blurred, drowned out, exploited for its colours to frame Kyle, stark, normal, and unassuming at the centre.

Eric wanted to remember him. Of all the incredible things Kyle had shown him in their short time together, he had appeared to deem Kyle as somebody worth preserving. The pressure of such a realisation weighed down on Kyle mercilessly, and something other than sympathy or endearment welled up in his chest, flooded his lungs, it was incredulity… _awe_.

"These are pretty good," Kyle said softly, mesmerised. He chuckled weakly, "Don't know why there are so many pictures of me though."

He pursed his lips and fidgeted, both disappointed and relieved in the silence. He could feel Eric's eyes on him, his gaze unreadable. Kyle knew that the only way to get a reaction out of Eric was through doing, through showing and guiding.

Leaving his photo album, Kyle tapped the camera icon on his phone. The screen was dark and blurry, the lens pointed at Kyle's lap. He tapped the corner of the screen and saw himself and Eric looking down.

Kyle watched Eric's reaction on the screen, his eyes wider than he had ever seen them, and his jaw slack. He chuckled, turning to Eric, and was greeted by his sheepish smile.

Still preoccupied with each other, Kyle felt Eric's fingers wrap around his wrist and he let Eric lift his arm and pull the phone further away, so they were both neatly in frame at a more flattering angle.

Kyle smiled into the camera, not needing to force it at all, and as usual, Eric copied him. Though Kyle was starting to see Eric's personality shine through the more time they spent together.

* * *

Two weeks since that night in the lab and Eric had become Kyle's unofficial roommate. It was a quick transition from being a guest, mostly due to the fact that Kyle had wasted no time downloading a _Rosetta Stone_ in American English, so Eric wouldn't have to live the rest of his life in silence.

Eric practiced every day, at home and when he accompanied Kyle to work, only taking breaks to have meals with Kyle or to watch TV with him before they went to bed. Although Kyle had been delighted when he discovered he made enough money that he could rent an apartment without the help of a roommate, he did enjoy Eric's presence in his place, and walking into the apartment at the end of the day with someone by his side. Even if it was an adjustment, a part of Kyle relished the disagreements over the remote, or having to impatiently rap on the door because Eric was taking too long in the shower. At least it meant Eric had to engage in conversation with him. Although he was learning how to speak English, Eric often preferred to hide under the safety blanket of silence.

Another day was starting, and Kyle padded into the living room, rubbing his gritty eyes. He thought he had done a shoddy job of clearing his vision when he saw that Eric had made himself breakfast.

Those surges of pride Kyle felt whenever Eric accomplished something were starting to become addictive. But he supposed there were worse vices. However, the daydreams of Eric's future weren't hallucinations, illusionary; they were startlingly real and becoming more so every day. Kyle hadn't discussed the future with Eric yet of course, but he was looking forward to such a conversation. Although a part of him was curious as well as apprehensive as to whether Eric envisioned a future with Kyle in it.

As a roommate? An acquaintance? A friend? The answer was still foggy in Kyle's optimistic crystal ball.

"Morning…" Kyle smiled as he entered the kitchen.

"Morning…" Eric replied shyly, returning to his cereal.

Froot loops. Kyle had discovered Eric had quite the sweet tooth.

"Did you sleep well?" He asked as he made himself coffee.

Kyle looked at Eric when he still hadn't answered. They weren't having quick, witty banter just yet, but Kyle didn't mind.

"Yes…" Eric nodded, "thank you."

Kyle smiled tightly.

"And you?" Eric asked.

"Yeah, I did," Kyle replied, careful not to beam. "Thanks."

The conversation lilting, Kyle decided to check his emails, pursing his lips when he saw the photo on his lock screen; he and Eric on the bench at the Lincoln Memorial. They still had a long way to go, but Kyle knew that Eric had already come so far and that he was only going to keep exceeding Kyle's expectations, making him proud. Eric wasn't just going to be fine; he was going to be great. Already with an affinity for photography and languages (as hesitant as Eric could be sometimes to speak English, Kyle was always pleased and impressed when he did), Eric could take his life into such amazing, interesting directions.

And looking at that photograph, Kyle wondered if he would be by Eric's side. He would always support him, always be in Eric's life in whatever way they both saw fit, but Kyle knew that they had come so far _together_ too. Maybe it wasn't so crazy for Kyle to consider Eric his friend? And hope Eric felt the same way?

Kyle's coffee was ready, and he blinked as he snapped out of his early morning daydreams.

"Your English is improving already," he commented, pouring the coffee into a cup and taking a seat opposite Eric. He sighed, and it settled into a lazy smile. "You're getting so much better."

Eric grinned, still sheepish, and replied. "it's, uh… fun?"

"Fun? Yes, fun, well, I'm glad…" Kyle said. "If you need any help, let me know."

Eric nodded, and both of them hid their smiles behind their breakfasts.

* * *

Just like Eric was getting to grips with a new language, so was Kyle learning to adjust to silence. It was difficult, as he had never been described as quiet or meek before. He was always the most fervent contributor to any debate, as well as the most likely to babble in nerve-wracking situations. Kyle's voice was his shield, and his words were his sword and laying down his weapons in Eric's mute company was terrifying at first, but grew to be invigorating. As much of a talker as Kyle was, it felt nice to just shut up for a minute and feel okay with it.

In fact, although Eric spent all day with Kyle at work, it often felt that Kyle was on his own in the lab. They would speak to each other when required – no small talk – and Kyle would continue his research into the amber while Eric watched from the stool perched at the end of Kyle's desk, or revised his English on Kyle's laptop.

"What are you doing?" Eric asked.

Kyle nearly jumped, his heart certainly did. He was so immersed in the amber plasma in the petri dish in front of him that the sound of Eric's voice startled him. It wasn't very often that Eric initiated conversation…

"Uhh… well, we think this amber you were found in has special qualities," Kyle tried to explain the best he could. "But since I'm not a biologist, I can't figure out what those special qualities are so I'm sending a sample to my scientist friend, Kenny. His team is hoping that this amber could be very beneficial, that it could help a lot of people. Which is great, but what I'm really interested in why it's capable of doing such abnormal, wonderful things."

"Oh…" Eric nodded, glancing at the amber before looking back at Kyle with imploring eyes. "What does it mean, what you are doing?"

Kyle furrowed his eyebrows. He hadn't even asked himself that question.

"Honestly, we're not sure yet," he replied. "This material is still so mysterious, we don't even know what it's made of. But we're getting close. We just want to find answers."

Kyle was about to continue his work when Eric asked, "what about me?"

"What about you?" Kyle returned, shaking his head. "I don't understand."

Eric rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. His expression was desperate as well as exasperated; his gleaming topaz eyes were shining. He sighed.

"I was stuck for a long time," he explained, lifting his gaze to Kyle. He was still learning how to express his thoughts to Kyle in a way he could understand, he probably hoped his fixed gaze could help fill in the gaps. "You are now all f-fa-fascinated with this," he gestured almost reproachfully to the petri dish. "Every day you are looking, and I am here watching. Do you want to put me back in there? Do you want me to go back?"

Kyle had listened intently and his response was immediate.

"No!" He exclaimed. "No, definitely not, Eric!"

His reaction to what Eric had been suggesting was so strong and visceral, and the relief that immediately thawed out any apprehension Eric felt when Kyle dashed his doubts, was so overwhelming that Kyle felt dizzy. A weak chuckle escaped his mouth and he didn't try to stop a smile from spreading across his face.

"Good, th-thank you. I am glad," Eric said softly. Kyle could see his hands fidgeting at his lap. "Always I have felt lonely, sad… but not anymore. I feel happy now, like I am meant to be…" Eric paused and gulped, but then looked to Kyle again. "With you. I, I like being with you… Kyle."

Kyle pursed his lips; at first he had been unabashed in his wide smile. But now he feared what it could be the telling trigger to. Eric had of course said his name before, but it had never felt so loaded, so quietly important. It was like a code, or gesture, trivial to others, but sacred and meaningful to Eric and Kyle. Just by saying his name Eric had showed Kyle how grateful he was, exactly what Kyle meant to him, with hardly any words…

Eric was good at doing that.

"Wow, thanks, I'm glad you feel that way," Kyle managed to reply. "I like being with you too, Eric."

* * *

So far Eric had been managing with borrowed clothes, but Kyle only had so many loose-fitting sweats and baggy t-shirts, and Eric was becoming fussier in his tastes and bolder in expressing his opinion. Kyle couldn't blame him. Eric's wardrobe was pretty casual at the moment, not to mention bland. A novelty for Eric when he had grown up with embellishment, finery, clothes that _meant_ something. Eric was clearly pining for that.

Kyle couldn't provide Eric with authentic Ancient Egyptian attire (unless he stole some from the exhibits at the museum and got fired in the process), but he could at least re-vamp Eric's wardrobe with the prince at the head of the operation.

That Saturday they ventured to the mall for Eric's very first shopping trip.

They had only been to one store and already Eric had chosen two pairs of jeans, an olive sweater, a grey pullover hoodie, and a light blue t-shirt emblazoned with a cat sporting sunglasses propped up in a DJ booth. Eric had burst out laughing the moment he saw it and snatched it from the rack, with an amused Kyle following him.

"How about this?" Kyle asked, spotting a plaid shirt. He took it from the rack and presented it to Eric. "Plaid?"

Eric was already leafing through the shirts in the opposite racks, and he wrinkled his nose and shook his head when he saw the shirt Kyle was holding.

Kyle blinked at Eric's blunt response, but resumed his previous smirk.

"Okay, just thought it'd suit you," he replied, putting the shirt back where he found it.

"I like this one," Eric announced, holding a burgundy silk shirt to his chest.

"You do, huh?" Kyle asked, inspecting the shirt a little closer.

"Yes," Eric replied, thumbing the sleeve. "I like the colour… red, right?"

"Yes, red!" Kyle grinned up at Eric, the fabric soft beneath his fingers. "Nice material too," Kyle commented, before he found the price tag. He balked. It was definitely the most expensive item they had picked up. "Pretty steep, but you are a prince. I guess it's no surprise you have expensive taste. Plus, with your limited wardrobe I can't afford to be picky. Literally."

"I really like it, Kyle," Eric said, before he looked at Kyle and asked, "Do you think it will look good?"

Kyle glanced around the store and spotted the dressing room.

"Sure, let's go find out," he smiled, holding Eric's wrist and leading him over there.

"Alright, this is called a dressing room," Kyle explained once they had entered. "It's where you try on new clothes before you buy them."

Eric nodded, his eyes roaming the small, narrow room, that had six curtained-off cubicles and a long mirror on the far wall. Kyle was holding the bulk of his clothes, and Eric still had the silk shirt in his hand. He passed it to Kyle and began to lift his t-shirt over his head.

"No, no!" Kyle said quickly. "You don't- you need to go behind one of the curtains and get changed, see?"

He pointed to a vacant cubicle and Eric nodded.

"Probably should've mentioned that sooner…" Kyle muttered, before he rolled his eyes and willed away his embarrassment. "Anyway, here's your clothes," he said, as he handed Eric his stuff. "I'll be out here if you need me."

Eric grinned, pressing the pile of clothes to his chest before he stepped into the cubicle and with one hand managed to close the curtains behind him. Kyle stared at the barrier between him and Eric for a few seconds before he sighed. Eric's grin was still infectious despite the partition and Kyle's face began to hurt the more he tried to stop the wicked smile from playing across his lips. Kyle brought his hands to his face and ran a hand through his curls, leaving them wayward but he didn't care. Spotting a small, leather stool, he sat on it and waited for Eric to step out of the curtains in his new apparel.

Two minutes later Eric emerged wearing the burgundy shirt, as well as a self-satisfied smirk that Kyle had only seen once or twice, and a swagger that was completely new. At least to Kyle, no doubt Eric had often strutted around the palace with a similar air of cocky authoritativeness.

"How did I know that would be your first choice?" Kyle teased.

Eric didn't respond. He was too busy checking out every angle of himself in the mirror, leaving Kyle to his own inspections. He was by no means a fashion guru, but Kyle thought the shirt really suited him. The deep, indulgent shade of red complimented Eric's skin tone, and the confidence it so clearly provoked made his golden eyes glint like they knew they were set in royal sockets. If Eric had a pair of trousers to match and a spritz of some cologne (something sharp but lulling, a powerful yet alluring scent) then he would be a catch…

 _What do you mean 'would be'? You know he's handsome. You couldn't stop staring at him that night in the lab._

Kyle shook his head, dismissing the thought. It would have been difficult, were it not for the fact that although Eric's buttons were all done up neatly, his collar was sticking out. Kyle smiled to himself.

"Do you like it?" He asked.

"Yes, it's nice," Eric replied, still looking in the mirror, his hand placed on his belly. He looked at Kyle and asked, "Do you think it's nice?"

"I do, except um…" Kyle's eyes wandered to Eric's collar.

"What?" Eric asked, turning to Kyle now.

Kyle stood up and fixed Eric's collar, Eric watching his hands all the while. Once he was finished, Kyle beamed and placed his hand on Eric's shoulders.

"Perfect…" he whispered, running his hands down Eric's chest.

The gentle fabric was hypnotic, and the warmth Kyle could feel beneath the shirt was inviting, with the rise and fall of Eric's chest it steadily met and retreated from Kyle's fingers like the calmest seat at night. Until Eric chuckled, low and secretive and his warm skin, Eric's lungs, seemed to giggle in whispers as if they knew how beguiling they were. How enticing the whole package was…

"Perfect is good?" Eric asked.

Kyle lifted his heavy gaze to Eric and saw the prince smiling. His smile was chipped at the corner, white teeth peeking out of the crooked smirk. Kyle would've assumed it competitive, flirtatious, were it not for the genuine curiosity in Eric's eyes.

"Perfect is very good," Kyle replied, hoping to match Eric's humid tone. "The best."

"Perfect is hot?"

Kyle furrowed his eyebrows. His fingers stiffened on Eric's chest and didn't move. "What do you mean?"

Kyle saw Eric swallow and fidget, averting his gaze from Kyle as he searched for the right words. When he appeared to have found them, his eyes met Kyle's again.

"On the TV, when someone is good-looking they are called hot," he explained. "So am I?"

Kyle's eyes widened, he felt as if he was in the process of freezing all over.

"D-d-do I think you're hot?" Kyle asked, arching an eyebrow, concerned that he only half-understood.

Eric nodded, his lidded gaze and loose smile now melting Kyle too rapidly, he feared he would burn.

"Y-yeah," Kyle stuttered, nodding vigorously. "Yeah, you do look hot."

Eric remained cool while Kyle flared. His fingers were damp, but he was scared they'd start shaking if he moved them from Eric's chest. Besides, he didn't want to find out if the racing heart he could feel and hear belonged to him or to Eric.

"Thank you," Eric replied. "You are hot too."

Kyle flushed; a hideous summer downpour on his cheeks.

 _Why am I blushing so hard?!_

"Yeah, right, you're just saying that…" Kyle snickered, looking away, he had to.

"No, I am saying it because it's true," Eric said, and it was so firm and certain, without any mirth, without any of the hesitancy or self-consciousness that was usually present when he spoke English, that Kyle had to then look at him. There was nothing light about his declaration. In fact, it was so heavy that Kyle had no choice but to face it. Wide-eyed, and exhilarated and silent.

Eric's strong, sincere expression softened for Kyle… or maybe _because_ of Kyle.

"I have seen nobody else like you," Eric confessed.

Kyle exhaled a shaking, imperfect breath.

"Is that a compliment?" He tried to ask with a chuckle.

"What is a compliment?"

"Something that is nice and honest," Kyle explained.

"Then it is a compliment," Eric replied. "You are beautiful, Kyle."

"Beautiful?"

"I cannot think of any other word."

And Kyle, who usually found it so hard to keep quiet, was well and truly speechless. Nobody had ever said anything like that to him before, and even then he wasn't sure there was a person on the planet who would know how to respond. Words fell flat on his tongue and his mind was blank, he hastily scoured his brain for words, his gaze wandering, until he realised his hands were still on Eric's chest.

"S-s-sorry…" he blurted, eyes to the floor as he snatched his hands away.

"Why are you sorry?" Eric asked, stepping forward.

Kyle kept his head bowed, but he looked up at Eric when he replied, "for touching you like that."

"You have touched me before?"

"Yeah, but that was different," Kyle mumbled, itching to get out of his uncomfortable, burning skin and into something cooler.

 _Like Eric's…_

Kyle thought of that soft shirt, and Eric's warm chest, and what his bare skin would feel like against his fingertips and flinched. Why was he thinking this way? How could he be thinking this way?!

Eric chuckled.

"But I liked it," he replied.

Kyle lifted his head suddenly, searching for reassurance on Eric's sincere face.

"Oh…" Kyle nodded, wiping his clammy palms on his jeans. "Okay…"

Eric's smile was creased with laughter and when it finally escaped, it prompted Kyle to join in.

"What should I try on next?" Eric asked, thankfully attempting to steer them away from that intense but-

 _Amazing? Exciting-_

 _Awkward_ moment.

"How about the t-shirt with the cat on it?" Kyle suggested.

They both needed to cool off.

Eric returned Kyle's grin and disappeared behind a curtain, leaving Kyle to gulp for air as if he had been drowning in the once calm sea that suddenly turned tumultuous. But was Eric volatile, or Kyle? Or were his feelings simply developing and it had been so long since Kyle had had a crush on anyone that he had forgotten how charged and eruptive such feelings made him? Undoubtedly alive but reckless.

And if he were to ever act on these feelings, if he and Eric were to ever cross that flirtatious boundary into something more unabashed, fervent and intimate, then it would be a reckless, _foolish_ decision.

Kyle knew that he had gotten more than he bargained for when Eric broke out of that slab, but he never anticipated it to this extent; endearment, fondness, and now attraction. He groaned, and buried his head in his hands.

* * *

As well as the Rosetta Stone Kyle had been helping Eric improve his English with flashcards.

Eric's existence was not yet public knowledge. The media storm that would have descended were the press to know about the Smithsonian's incredible discovery would have caused more distress to Eric during this confusing time, and while it was Kyle's job to teach Eric, and help him settle into his new surroundings, it was Doctor Victoria's responsibility to discuss with the museum's PR people how they were going to release this new… information. In all their talks with Kyle, they had phrased everything very delicately. Eric wasn't an asset, or an exhibit, or even an _experiment_ (Kyle feared that he would be labelled as such as soon as the public were made aware of him, and he would be taken from all he had learned, from his new home, for good).

Despite the secrecy, Kyle was still able to ascertain the flashcards via Wendy – since her girlfriend, Bebe, was an elementary school teacher and used such cards for her own English lessons. They proved to be quite helpful, and Eric and Kyle had now embarked on their second lesson with the flashcards, both of them sat facing each other on Kyle's couch, their elbows resting on their knees.

"Walking?" Eric guessed, after Kyle had presented him with another card.

"Yes!" Kyle grinned, placing it at the back of the pile and showing Eric a new card.

"Eating?"

"Correct again! Don't sound so unsure, okay?" Kyle smiled softly. "You're doing excellent."

Eric returned the smile, but ever since their charged moment in the dressing room a week ago, every silent action and gesture – once unassuming and necessary – was loaded, bloated with meaning. Tempting and risky.

Kyle was proud of the lack of awkwardness between them (he supposed that their discomfort had no choice but to wane since they spent so much time together), but he wondered if it had simply been replaced by flickering tension, a pull only growing tauter. In Kyle's experience, things became awkward when somebody makes a move and is shot down. The uneasiness lies in dealing with the aftermath of rejection. But there had been no rejection, only restraint. They were both drawn to each other, the attraction was mutual. Kyle could see it in Eric's small smile and articulate eyes, had felt it beneath his fingertips, Eric's warm skin, his heart sprinting alongside Kyle's.

Clearing his throat although he wasn't planning on speaking, Kyle then showed Eric a flashcard of a little cartoon holding a book.

"Reading," Eric answered more decisively.

Kyle nodded and beamed, showing Eric another card of a girl doing a backstroke.

"Swimming,"

Again Kyle nodded, impressed. The flashcard was replaced by another of a couple kissing, red and pink love hearts hovering above their heads.

As Eric studied the card his coy smile faded, along with Kyle's previous confidence. The answer was obvious, and Eric had been doing too well not to get it right. Kyle tried to gulp as discreetly as he could, shifting in his seat. His legs suddenly felt numb.

"Ki-kissing?" Eric finally answered. Kyle was slow in acknowledging him.

Kyle didn't nod, or smile, or move onto the next card. He was frozen all over again… so why did his skin feel searing beneath his clothes? Why were his fingertips prickling against the paper?

"Kiss…" Eric repeated, his gaze on his lap before it reached Kyle. He muttered something under his breath that Kyle didn't understand. But it was ancient and mysterious and it unnerved Kyle as much as it aroused him. That flickering temptation was now roaring.

Eric slowly leaned forward; at least it felt excruciatingly arduous to Kyle. His body was stiff and his heart was thumping, pleading, and it wasn't just his fingertips that were prickling. His skin was sensitive and boiling, and overall Kyle felt feverish, he didn't know what the remedy was exactly but he knew Eric could cure him, relieve him, and make him feel alive again. Like Eric, Kyle needed to be revived.

Finally, Eric cupped Kyle's face with both hands. He never realised before how strong Eric was, and now he was handling that draw, that pull, and Kyle couldn't look anywhere except those beautiful, enchanting eyes. Kyle had been bewitched by them since that night in the lab. In fact, Kyle was reminded a lot of that night, the night he liked to think they first met. But the roles had reversed, Kyle was the one who had stared contemplatively then, fascinated, and now he was the one being studied, admired. But just like their attraction, their endearment, it was mutual.

Eric carefully closed the gap between them with a soft, chaste kiss; the beguiling, quiet climax to the most intimidating build-up. For all his cockiness that Kyle was so fond of, Eric was a serious man, a born ruler, and Kyle could sense it in even the gentlest of kisses – which it was. It prompted a relieved, desperate lump in Kyle's throat and when their kiss ended all too soon he was left spellbound. Panting, trembling. They both were. Eric's palms were shaky on Kyle's flushed cheeks, and their breaths were humid, threadbare and synchronised. Eric's irises were almost Tiger Eye stones in the shadow of his dilated pupils, and Kyle was sure that his own pupils had blotted his irises a mossy shade.

Transfixed, Kyle couldn't stop staring at Eric, revelling in his boldness, in his debilitating sincerity. His lips were parted, tasting of Eric and mourning their short union.

Exhaling shakily, he nodded.

"Kiss…" Kyle whispered, before smashing his lips against Eric's.

He would've been just as surprised by his brazen move as Eric was, were he not so craving and enlivened. Eric swiftly responded though, his hands still cupping Kyle's face as if his lips were a spring in the Sahara. Kyle had the flashcards in his hand and he limply tried to place them on the coffee table, so they wouldn't become unorganised, but he missed and they landed in a heap on the floor. Kyle didn't care, his reluctance and objections were leaving him.

Now that his hands were free, Kyle wrapped his arm around Eric's neck, grabbing a fistful of his hair, deepening the kiss. Their tongues met and their whimpers were suffocated in their hot, wet mouths. Intrigued and greedy, Eric shifted even closer, pinning Kyle on the couch, and with Eric on top of him, Kyle could've kidded himself that it was just the two of them in the whole world. He wouldn't have to think about, or answer to anybody, it was just them and they were all that mattered. Kyle spread his legs and encouraged Eric to press his body flush to his, so warm and sturdy and Kyle couldn't get enough of the feeling, he wanted more, more, more until there was nothing left to discover, to experience. He was an archaeologist, it was in his nature to be inquisitive.

He was still clutching Eric's hair, while Eric's hand had slid from his cheek to his waist, boldly slipping his fingers under Kyle's shirt. Kyle jolted and fearlessly welcomed the contact. But their not-so-free hands were above their heads, their fingers seamlessly and fiercely intertwined.

* * *

 **A/N:** _Thoughts? Hope you enjoyed and thank you for reading!_


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** _The final part. Slight angst in this chapter, but hopefully the mushiness will make up for it. Hope you enjoy and thank you for reading!_

* * *

Four days had passed since Kyle's first kiss with Eric and little had changed between them. It wasn't followed by revelation or bewilderment. It was followed by relief and giddiness and plenty more kisses. Their routine had altered slightly due to this new development in their relationship, a change Kyle would have never seen coming a matter of weeks ago, but seemed so natural the more time they spent together, and blissful after he realised just how much he wanted Eric, and how deep his affections ran.

In fact, some arrangements were made easier now their feelings were no more barely kept secrets. Instead of having to fold out the couch into a bed every night, Eric shared Kyle's now. And while Kyle still encouraged Eric to speak as much as English as he could, their language barrier was now being slowly bridged with affectionate gestures and kisses as well as Eric's progress.

Their day-to-day was still the same. Eric accompanied Kyle to work, revising his English while Kyle still investigated the mysterious circumstances which allowed Eric to come into his life the way he had. But perhaps they were more susceptible to distraction now, for while Kyle tried to type up notes on his tablet, he could see Eric staring at him out of the corner of his eye, gaze preoccupied and smile lax and slightly wicked.

"You okay?" Kyle asked, finally addressing the subject.

"I'm fine…" Eric replied, smiling dreamily, neglecting the laptop in front of him.

"Aren't you supposed to be busy?" Kyle arched an eyebrow and placed a playful hand on his hip.

Eric chuckled bashfully. "Yes, but I am distracted by you."

Kyle blinked, genuinely surprised. His hand slid from his hip.

"Me?" He asked, trying to keep the incredulity concealed in his voice.

Eric nodded, unabashedly raking his gaze over Kyle.

"You are looking, um, cute today," he said with a smile.

Kyle's smile creased with fondness, his face suddenly felt warmer. And he could've sworn Eric had flushed too.

"Cute?" He decided to tease. "Not hot?"

"You are hot too," Eric quickly added, as if concerned Kyle was actually offended. "You can be both, can't you?"

Kyle nodded. "Yes, you can."

"Then you are both of those things and more," Eric replied, without a trace of doubt or embarrassment.

His conviction always stunned Kyle, for it always reminded him of how highly Eric regarded him and how he saw no problem in expressing it, even if Kyle didn't think he was worthy of such praise, admiration.

He shook his head disbelievingly and snickered, "You know, for a guy who still can't speak a whole lot of English yet you are one smooth talker."

Eric grinned and ran a hand through his hair, ducking his head. Admittedly, Kyle found his coyness extremely arousing.

He added, "But you're cute today too… and hot."

Eric lifted his head; brow raised and eyes wide. Kyle pursed his lips to stifle his chuckle.

"Hot?" Eric asked, glancing at the cat t-shirt he was wearing. "You said this shirt was funny?"

"You can be cute and funny," Kyle smiled.

"Really?"

"You can be anything you want..."

Kyle stepped closer, his fingers sliding across the lab table. Eric had watched with lips parted, and his eyes trailed to Kyle, his gaze so hungry that it could have devoured him.

"I want you closer to me…" Eric revealed, voice threadbare as if his ravenous eyes had stripped it of anything else. All was left was its soft, pleading skeleton.

"How close?" Kyle asked, before edging forward a little more.

"Closer…" Eric demanded, moving the laptop aside.

Kyle moved forward and their hands met. Their skin was hot and Eric's fingers twitched when Kyle touched him, no bluff, certainly no coolness; Eric wanted him, needed him closer, and acted accordingly. Kyle wanted to smile victoriously, smugly, but he knew how it felt to ache like Eric was.

"Like this?" He instead asked, still admiring the sight of his hand on top of Eric's.

"More," Eric replied, barely above a whisper.

Stepping closer, Kyle trailed his fingers up Eric's arm, effortlessly, carelessly, almost phantasmal as Eric's skin prickled and shivered with goosebumps. The fine hairs on his arm stood up, frozen and haunted by Kyle's touch.

"How about now?" Kyle asked, though he knew they were nowhere near close enough.

But Eric was now able to wrap his arm around Kyle's waist and pull him forward. Kyle yelped softly and quickly, Eric snatching control from him was unexpected but he didn't protest. A cunning smirk glinted in the corner of Eric's mouth and left Kyle breathless.

"This is better," Eric grinned, his arm hooked securely around Kyle's waist and his boyfriend's exhilarated reflection was in Eric's dark topaz eyes.

Kyle's hands had flown to Eric's upper arms, trying to find purchase on those well-covered biceps as well as trying to retrieve his breath. It was coming in terse, glistening bursts almost as sweet as Eric's tempting lips. And Kyle had sampled them enough in a short amount of time to know just how lovely they were.

His smile wobbled and shook under the weight of his desire, and Kyle quickly dove for Eric's lips. Tender and full when pressed against his own, Kyle wondered why they wasted their time with teasing. He slid his hands up Eric's arms, fingers crawling into Eric's hair while his other arm coiled around Eric's shoulder and rested his hand just below the nape of his neck. Eric, meanwhile, clutched at Kyle's waist through his lab coat with one hand, and dug his fingers in between his shoulder blades with the other.

While they gladly took any opportunity to kiss and be in each other's embrace, and despite kissing each other senseless since the first time their lips met, Kyle had initially been reluctant. He knew their relationship was unorthodox (and that was why he tried to resist entering romantic territory), and he also knew that it was easy for he and Eric to get lost in translation. He hated to think that perhaps he was taking advantage of Eric, that he was unwittingly leading their relationship in a direction Eric wasn't entirely sure about.

But Kyle needn't have doubted Eric, or sold him short, for when he invited Eric to spend his first (sexless) night in his bed, Eric folded his arms around Kyle and nuzzled his curls without being prompted at all, and Kyle slept soundly that night. Language is so easily deceptive, and words can be the greatest make-up of all. Actions are sincere even when we don't mean them to be; they ooze and leak with truth.

Kyle was jolted out of his hazy reminisces when Eric urged him closer, the hand at his waist roaming further down his back. If they were at his apartment, Kyle would've let Eric's hands wander anywhere (for there was still so much they had yet to discover), he would've let Eric brace him and hitch him up, indulge him in his strength, and let Eric carry him to their bed but, unfortunately, they were in the lab and Kyle was still a professional. He usually prided himself on that, now it felt like a great inconvenience.

"This is as close as we can get for now," Kyle breathed out, away from Eric's lips.

"Alright," Eric acquiesced, loosening his hold.

Kyle frowned to himself. Things couldn't escalate between them just yet, but he didn't want to completely extinguish the moment. Instead, he decided to just let it simmer.

"But when we get home, I'll be all over you," he promised, their noses brushing together.

Eric bit his lip, the corners of his mouth piqued upwards coyly, satisfied.

"I would like that, Kyle," he murmured, pressing his forehead to his boyfriend's.

Kyle snickered, fingers still threaded through Eric's hair, suspended in each other's embrace. One more kiss wouldn't hurt, would it? With hooded eyes, Kyle reconnected their lips and Eric readily resumed their kiss. He pawed at Kyle, pushed his tongue into Kyle's mouth, leaving Kyle to wander exactly what would transpire between them when they returned home. The door locked, their whole evening free, who knew how things could develop? How far would they get carried away? In the present moment, with his heart pumping molten blood and a semi in his pants, Kyle hoped very far…

The click of the lab door opening and conversation drifting into the room was what finally made Kyle push himself off Eric, flustered and pinked. With startled eyes, Eric reached for the laptop and tried to remain inconspicuous, while Kyle tried to compose himself. As he smoothed down his clothes he noticed Wendy and Token staring at him with expressions of puzzlement and amusement.

Kyle coughed into his fist before looking directly at the pair.

"Oh, hey, you guys been to lunch yet?" He asked, thankful his voice didn't waver.

"No, but we were just about to go if you want to come," Wendy replied, arching an eyebrow and not hiding her smile.

Kyle nodded wordlessly for a couple of minutes, his throat tight before he found his voice.

"Yeah, sounds great," he said, before turning to his boyfriend who was hiding himself behind his laptop. "Are you hungry, Eric?"

His head popped up from behind the screen timidly and even Kyle was finding it difficult to contain his laughter. Hair mussed and cheeks tinged with the slightest blush, Eric nodded and got up from the stool with his signature smirk.

* * *

Whenever their conversations veered towards the topic of future plans, Eric always expressed an interest in taking up photography. And so Kyle was spending his Saturday afternoon researching various community college courses dotted around the city, his laptop on his chest and his legs on his boyfriend's lap as Eric immersed himself in a Spaghetti Western marathon playing on the TV.

As the credits _for A Fistful of Dollars_ rolled, Kyle sat up, after an hour he thought he may have found the ideal class.

"Hey, Eric, look at this," he said, nudging Eric in the chest with his foot.

Eric diverted his attention away from the screen, leaning over and peering at the laptop with Kyle.

"It's close to the apartment, you need very little experience, and it's quite an intensive course too…" Kyle added, and saying it out loud only fuelled his excitement. It was everything they had been looking for. "Sounds perfect, right?"

Eric nodded, absorbed in what was on the screen. He silently took the laptop from Kyle and started to read further, his brow furrowed and his mouth opening and closing as he focused on the words.

Kyle watched him all the while, fiddling with the cushion beneath him as he waited for Eric's approval.

"I-I-it's great!" Eric finally said. His eyes were wide and a smile spilled onto his face.

Kyle bit back a relieved sigh. "You really like it?"

"Yeah, I do!" Eric grinned, before turning to Kyle and asking enthusiastically, "When can I go?"

Kyle deflated somewhat then, he was so glad of Eric's eagerness and he would've had him enrolled tomorrow if he could, but it unfortunately didn't work that way. Especially for Eric, who was so different and his circumstances so extraordinary.

"Usually classes start in September, so you've got almost a year to wait," Kyle replied. "Although some classes run in January, I think this one does. But maybe we should wait for a year, there's still so much we need to do…"

"Like what?" Eric asked, shrinking back from his initial excitement.

"Well, we need to arrange for you to sit a GED," Kyle explained. "Even though you don't need any prior experience for this course, you still need a high school diploma or the equivalent. But I can help you prepare and study for that, no problem," he smiled then, trying to ward off any discouragement. "Of course there's the legal stuff, like your name. You still don't have any discernible identification, like a driver's license or a passport," Kyle noticed that Eric was visibly reeling from the knowledge that he needed to have all these things. He probably felt so lost and helpless… before he had been a powerful prince, destined to forge his own laws, and now he had to follow rules he didn't understand. Kyle wanted Eric to reclaim some independence, even if it was minor. "Do you want to drive? You could take driving lessons? We could get you a learner's permit and drive around a parking lot or something?"

There was a crease in Eric's brow and he chuckled. Kyle fidgeted in embarrassment at his rambling, the strange trajectory of his thoughts.

 _At least I made him laugh, that's something to make him feel better._

"I think I'll drive later," Eric assured with a smile.

"Okay, it's not as if it's an urgent matter," Kyle replied, his shy gaze found it difficult to remain on Eric. "Hell, it's not even an issue since I can drive and take you anywhere you need to go. But maybe it could be a good independence thing? I don't want you to feel like everything is on my terms, like I'm in charge of you because I'm not. You're your own person. I just want to help-"

"I know, Kyle," Eric chuckled, shushing him by finding Kyle's hand and threading their fingers. "I know you want to help me."

Although Kyle was still flushed, and although his gaze was still too flustered and coy to properly meet Eric's eyes, their linked hands emboldened him somewhat.

"Phew, okay, good. Glad that's cleared up," Kyle said with a small chuckle and a weak smile, Eric was slowly teasing the discomfort out of him. "But, um, I really need to talk to Doctor Victoria before we go ahead with any of this. I don't think she would like us making anything official until her and the damn PR team come up with a plan…" Kyle sighed, he hated to sound petulant and bitter (especially about his boss who he respected a great deal), but their progress was at a snail's pace compared to Eric's ability and willingness to adapt to his new surroundings. They were dealing with a human life, and yet they appeared to be so dismissive… or just inept at the weight of such a responsibility. "I mean, I know it's difficult, and I know they must be busy with other things but I really don't think it's fair to make you wait this long. It's been weeks and we've heard virtually nothing. You've come so far and they're just… static, you know? Do you feel that way?"

He faced Eric directly then, a concerned hand placed on his knee.

"I suppose," Eric shrugged, glancing around the apartment as if it could help him elaborate. "I don't think about them a lot. I just focus on what I am doing."

"And you should," Kyle said, squeezing Eric's hand in his own. He softened his voice when he said, "I'm so proud of you, Eric."

Eric's wandering stare bounced back to Kyle, and a smile spread across his face as if the answers he was looking for were with Kyle all along.

 _Didn't he say in the lab that he thought he was meant to be with you?_

"Thank you," Eric said quietly.

"No problem," Kyle replied just as soft, as if their voices were being drowned out by their gentle, whirring thoughts, and all the things that weren't visible but that they saw when they looked at each other. And Kyle saw that Eric was what mattered, and he appeared to be happy and content even if Kyle was concerned and irritated by those they were still waiting on. He rolled his eyes.

"Ugh, maybe it's just me," he groaned, throwing his head back so that it hit a cushion, "worrying about nothing, getting too involved…"

"I don't mind," Eric shook his head and snickered. "You are involved because you… care about me…"

Even the tiniest wobble of uncertainty made Kyle sit up and look at Eric with imploring eyes.

"Don't you?" Eric asked, gaze fixed on Kyle and he brushed Kyle's hand with his thumb.

"Yes," Kyle smiled, voice strong but wavering. He leaned forward and lifted his hand from Eric's knee, bringing it to his face to stroke his cheek. "Yes of course I do."

Eric's cheek swelled in his damp palm and he regarded Kyle with glistening, hooded eyes.

"Then that is all I need," Eric whispered, vowed. "I'll wait."

Kyle brushed Eric's cheek with his thumb, trying to contain his smile because he feared it would encompass his whole face. It was difficult trying to contain his ecstasy, a marvellous by-product of his fondness for the prince. But he still had his damn pride extinguishing any embarrassing outbursts of emotion (even if it had failed him on previous occasions), otherwise he wouldn't care how wide he smiled, or if he welled up.

There was still a way to express his affection however. He leaned over – the set-up was perfect, for his hand was already at Eric's cheek – and kissed his remarkable, astounding boyfriend.

* * *

"… And I have a younger brother called Ike- what?" Kyle interrupted himself when he heard Eric chuckle across the table.

"I have never heard that name before…" Eric commented before taking a sip of his drink. His topaz eyes matched the shade of the fashionably muted bulbs in the restaurant.

"Oh, well, it's short for Isaac," Kyle explained. "He's adopted, his parents were Canadian. He graduated college last year, and is in California now, Silicon Valley looking for internships."

Eric nodded, impressed, and there was a small, encouraging smile on his face prompting Kyle to divulge more. Admittedly, that was the purpose of this evening. It was their first real date night and Kyle hoped that with Eric's English getting better and better they could finally learn more about each other. Spending as much time together as they did and with a barrier in communication, Kyle felt he had been self-taught in Eric's personality. Quite an accomplishment, and Eric's history was his reward. So Kyle told Eric that he had booked a table for them at one of the most romantic restaurants he knew (intimate and cosy, perfect for sharing), explained to him what a date entailed, and was both amused and delighted when Eric decided to wear that burgundy shirt.

"So do you have any brothers or sisters?" Kyle asked.

"No…" Eric shook his head, speaking matter-of-factly. "No, my mother died when I was a baby and my father did not marry again."

The information and the tone it was given in surprised and sobered Kyle.

"Oh…" he whispered, reaching across the table and taking Eric's cool hand. He spoke louder, "Oh, Eric, I'm sorry…"

"Thank you, but it was not your fault, Kyle," Eric assured, so calm and profound. Kyle wondered whether Eric had compartmentalised his former life into a distant, dream world that leaked lucidity. "I know that a lot of mothers die giving birth to their children, it is fine. My father had his son and he loved me very much, he did…"

Eric's voice wandered off, tethered to the present but the alluring breeze of that far-off world and life had picked up and was attempting to carry Eric with it. Only when Eric mentioned his father…

"I want to hear more about you," Eric said softly, returning to Kyle.

"Okay," Kyle replied, the change in topic was a little abrupt but he went along with it nonetheless. "I grew up in Colorado and I got my degree in Egyptology from Yale. I love history as you can tell, archaeology and ancient Egypt specifically-"

"Why?"

"I think all ancient civilisations are incredible, what they achieved was remarkable and we wouldn't be where we are today without them," Kyle answered. "Mankind has progressed so much and we owe it all to them. At least, in my opinion. But I think it was the pyramids that intrigued me about Egypt, made me want to learn more about their culture and beliefs, especially concerning the afterlife. I've read extensively, and had the opportunity to really study artefacts, visit Egypt…" Kyle kept his smile to himself, but stroked Eric's hand with his thumb. "I met you…" Eric lifted his gaze to Kyle, who was trying to coax him back fully to the present. "And I'm still blown away. But I also love basketball and video games, elephants are my favourite animal. Let's see, what else…"

It was then Kyle was reminded of a facet of himself that he had deliberately kept from Eric, for so long now that he had forgotten it was a secret at all.

"Um…" Kyle studied the tablecloth as he tried to think of a way into his confession. "Maybe I should've told you this sooner but I didn't know how you would react…"

"What?"

Kyle took a deep breath.

"I'm Jewish," he said. "Did you know that?"

Eric's face was surprisingly impassive and he shrugged, leaning forward in his chair.

"I guessed," he admitted. "When we were in bed and we, uh…" Eric stopped himself, suddenly self-conscious. He scratched behind his ear but Kyle caught a glimpse of a coquettish half-smile and fond, hazy eyes. "Wh-when I saw you for the first time."

"Oh," Kyle blinked, not really knowing how to respond. He fiddled with the cutlery, only one question on his mind. "It's not a problem, is it?"

"No, no everything is new now, and different," Eric reassured, his voice swelled with sincerity. "I want to be different to who I was. This is my new home."

"Good, th-that's great, Eric," Kyle smiled; awed by the implication that Eric's home was with him, that he was a part of that. "Although I think I would've liked the person you were before just as much."

"Maybe…" Eric considered, quiet and distant. Kyle could feel him pulling towards his former life again, one so secret and possibly unhappy, fractured. Definitely tragic, for Eric was found so young.

Kyle wanted to learn more - inquisitive and protective as he was – but perhaps sombrely coaxing Eric wouldn't yield results, so instead he concealed his concern with an inviting smile.

"But I've been talking about myself all evening," he said, "so let's talk about you."

Eric arched a sceptical eyebrow, wary. "You want to talk about me?"

"Yes! I think you're fascinating," Kyle replied earnestly with a gentle smile. "I want to know everything about you."

Eric's wariness persisted and he pressed his lips tightly together, eyes roaming the table as he contemplated. The last thing Kyle wanted was to scare him off.

"Years before I found you, I had been intrigued by where you came from," Kyle added, hoping to encourage. "It's a dynasty so rarely written about or discussed. It's so mysterious and it was only by chance when I was in college and doing research did I stumble across a scrap of information, about a pharaoh who was probably your father."

Eric winced and shook his head.

"It was a short-lived dynasty," he replied. "We were doomed by the gods."

"How?"

"Our queen was dead, and I failed my father."

"But how? Eric, I don't understand," Kyle said, reaching across the table again and holding Eric's hand, he squeezed it softly this time. "Please tell me."

Eric slid his gaze to their joined hands, contemplating further before he nodded.

"When my mother died, all my father had was me and the dynasty," he began to explain. "But they were the same things, he always told me. I was Egypt and the future and our legacy. He was proud of me, and he loved me. We loved each other so much. I tried very hard to be what he wanted me to be. But I wanted to be a pharaoh, to rule like him. I wanted to make him and our advisors and our subjects - even my mother – proud."

Eric pursed his lips and exhaled through his nose.

"There was a Hebrew family," he continued. "They lived at the border of the slum. When I was a child I had nobody to play with, there were no other children in the palace and I had no brothers or sisters. One day, I saw a boy who I knew was Hebrew. He did not wear the same clothes as me. I remember his clothes were red, yellow and green…" he stopped to smile, to chuckle shortly. "And his hair was big and curly, even curlier than your hair."

Kyle snickered, and it released some of the tension.

"He had a green band around his forehead, and his curls they, uh, fell over the top it," Eric continued to smile fondly. "I do not know how he was able to get so close to the palace. I was not allowed to leave without an escort or an advisor or my father. I told him to come over to me but he was not scared. When my father used to take me through the slums, the Hebrews would look up at us and be frightened. But he was not. He told me that he had wanted to see the palace. I told him he should play with me. I was a prince and he had to listen to me.

"I did not like him," Eric considered, there was a small crease in his brow. "He talked too much. He would not play games the right way and we would argue. But I did not want to be on my own, and maybe he did not either because when I told him to come back he would. We played like that for a while, even when we were too old to play he would come to me and we would talk. He would come in the night, I told him how to meet me so the guards would not catch him and punish him. He would be tired. He was working with his father and mother now. When he left I would think all night. I would think of what my father and his advisors would say about the Hebrews, and if it was true. I did not want to, uh, disagree with my father but I did not understand.

"One night somebody in the palace must have seen us talking. The next day I had to see my father and his advisors and they told me I was not to go outside the palace at night, even the grounds. Guards would stand outside my chamber every night. My father's advisors were afraid we were plotting something, and they made my father believe it. My friend must have tried to visit me, but I was not there to meet him. One day I was going through the slums with my father and I saw my friend, I smiled because I had missed him. But he was arguing, shouting with someone I knew from the palace. He was not afraid of them either. He grabbed my friend and he looked frightened, and so was I. He saw me and shouted, asked me to do something. But I could not. Not in front of my father, and everybody else. I looked away…"

Eric's voice had grown thicker and he ducked his head in an attempt to hide the sound of his sniffles. Kyle's heart stung, he didn't want to push Eric. He supposed like everything else this process of extracting – and in Eric's case, reliving – took time.

"It's alright, Eric," Kyle soothed, rubbing his thumb across Eric's hand. "You don't have to say anymore-"

"But it happened again," Eric continued, lifting his head to reveal sore, wet eyes. "I was with my father and my friend was arguing again with another member of the palace… I wished I was as brave as my friend, I wished I was as stubborn. It made me angry to see him getting hurt, for the same thing to happen to him. But I was glad because I had a chance to make everything right. I ran away from my father and from the escorts protecting us. I put myself in front of my friend and fought the man who was trying to hurt him. Everybody was screaming, my friend pulled me back and I was shaking but he still held me. I whispered to him that I was sorry and he did not say anything. I looked at father and he turned away from me. I knew he was ashamed of me.

"I do not know what happened to my friend. I did not live long after that to see him again. I was told to stay in my chamber for days. The guards would taunt me. They told me that my father was discussing with his advisors what to do with me. I did not believe them but it was true. I became angry and when I told them I would have them killed for speaking to me like that, they told me I was stupid and a traitor and I could not make such promises. When I met my father and his advisors they called me a disgrace and the end of the dynasty. They told me that my friend had tricked me and we wanted to, uh, overthrow the dynasty with the rest of the Hebrews. They called me weak and unfit to rule.

"My father disowned me. But he loved me. I know he did. His advisors…" Eric gritted his teeth, Kyle could see it in the tensing of his jaw, and he could feel the pressure travel to his hand and strain his knuckles. "They were the ones who threw me out of my home. I did not want to live anymore. I had no life to live. I had nobody who wanted me, I could not go back. I found an old woman who had, um… poison; I had nothing to give her except one of my rings. It meant nothing to me, I did not deserve them, but she thought it was worth something. I sat on the palace steps and drank what she had given me. It was horrible. I remember feeling cold, and I could not breathe or speak. I thought of my childhood and my friend and my father, and I thought of my mother too even though I did not remember her. She was smiling and crying in my mind."

Kyle was pulled out of his enthralled daze when a tear slid from his cheek and landed on the table, staining the tablecloth a temporary grey. As he picked up a spare napkin, his heart creaked and ached and had never been so sore. He reminded himself of Eric's hand in his own, vowing that when they returned home he would wrap his boyfriend up in his arms and comfort him in any way he could; rock him and dry his tears and kiss his beautiful, heartbroken face that had failed to perish and cheated death. Eric would never feel so hopeless, dejected or unwanted again. Kyle would make sure of it.

"One of the guards must have found me-"

"Of course," Kyle cut in, the sudden revelation too urgent to wait. "That's why you were put in the amber and not mummified in a tomb."

"They did not think I deserved a tomb, I guess," Eric replied, and Kyle realised that his boyfriend was in need of comforting now and the amber was secondary, along with everything else.

"Eric, thank you," Kyle said, looking deep into Eric's shimmering eyes. "It must've been so hard for you to tell that story but-"

"I am glad I told you, Kyle," Eric interjected, nodding. "Now you know everything."

But he didn't, not really. There was one piece of information that eluded him, so crucial and now he could finally discover it.

"What's your name?" Kyle asked.

Eric furrowed his eyebrows.

"My name is Eric," he replied.

"But that's the name I gave you when I didn't know," Kyle explained, trying to mask his confusion. "Don't you want me to know the name you were given when you were born?"

Eric didn't answer; he only fidgeted in his seat and returned his gaze to their hands.

"Do you remember it?" Kyle pressed.

Eric sighed. "Yes, but I had that name in an old life where I made mistakes," he explained. "Everything is different now, better, and I am happy, I can be whoever I want to be."

Kyle sat back, astonished, but still kept Eric's hand in his.

"And I want to be Eric," he smiled.

Kyle nodded, a lump in his throat and a smile on his face.

"Fair enough," he said a little weakly, but his smile was still bright. "It suits you."

* * *

Kyle thought teaching Eric how to work the TV or how to use his iPhone was amusing and intriguing, but teaching him advances that had been made in the bedroom over the last four thousand years was so much better. He had never considered himself adventurous in bed, in fact, compared to some, Kyle's sexual encounters were limited and rarely varied, and before Eric came along his last tryst was a faint, lukewarm memory. But with Eric, wide-eyed and deliciously sensitive, Kyle felt like a smouldering sex god who, with a well-placed touch and a gasp, could unlock Eric's centuries old abstinence (honestly, Kyle felt like he had been chaste for just as long), and introduce him to gateways to pleasure that he never knew existed..

But Eric was by no means a novice. He was simply awed and keen to try anything Kyle suggested, only encouraging Kyle to be at his best and give Eric everything he had so he could marvel at and reap the sumptuous rewards; Eric groaning and crying out Kyle's name until he was hoarse, his face contorting rapturously and the ecstasy exuding in vigorous trembles as he held Kyle's own shaking, shimmering body close. Because Kyle was as equally in Eric's thrall. It was Eric's very worshipping of his icon of lust that made Kyle devote himself to the prince. He was more passionate than any man Kyle had ever been with and had proven himself to be a quick learner in, well, everything. Familiarising and adapting himself to Kyle's body just as swiftly as the English language and modern household appliances.

The morning following their date was a typical post-coital scene. They had subdued their pleasured shivers with lulling, sultry kisses; hands still roaming their cooling, slick flesh, their bodies flush together as they lay side by side. Kyle's leg was hooked around Eric's lower thigh, while Eric had him willingly ensnared in his arms. They had kicked the sheets away when the bed became too humid.

"My desert flower…" Eric murmured into the kiss. His lips migrated to Kyle's salt-soaked neck and lapped at him gladly like he had found an oasis there. "My beautiful desert flower…"

He was just a drenched, aureate heatwave in Kyle's hooded eyes, but his words, ferocious in their affection, constricted Kyle's melting heart.

"Wait, what did you just call me?" Kyle asked, sinking his fingers shallowly into Eric's shoulder so he'd look up. Kyle blinked, Eric becoming clearer in his vision and when he pieced Eric's term of endearment with his contented face, his heart glowed instead of melted helplessly; a different, more invigorating sensation of flattery. "I-I-I'm your desert flower?"

Eric nodded, and Kyle's kiss-bruised lips tugged into a smile. He eliminated the tiny space between them with a grateful, joyous kiss that Kyle could feel Eric smiling into.

"But wh-why?" Kyle asked, his inquisitive nature prompting the question.

Eric shrunk back slightly in the embrace. "Should I not call you that?"

"I'm just curious," Kyle explained, drawing a circle on Eric's shoulder with his index finger. "Why would you call me that?"

Eric's doubt was wiped from his face by a cocky grin and he bit his lip that probably tasted of Kyle and sweat.

"You know a lot about my culture," he teased. "Why don't you tell me?"

Kyle smirked and rolled his eyes, embarrassed and suddenly nervous because he never thought he would have to explain Ancient Egyptian culture to an Ancient Egyptian. But he found Eric's hand at his thigh and weaved their fingers together for courage.

"Well, flowers were a symbol of life to the Ancient Egyptians," Kyle began to explain, unable to help the smile on his face. "Flowers were offered to the gods, and the fragrance of flowers was believed to be divine. In palaces the walls were often decorated with flower motifs. Lovers gave flowers to each other, just like lovers do now…" he looked to Eric who had been listening quietly and shrugged apologetically. "That's all I've got."

Eric snickered and raked his gaze over Kyle, but his eyes quickly returned to Kyle's patience face.

"You are right. Flowers are a symbol of life, and to me so are you, Kyle," he replied. "You have made it possible for me to start over, to live a life that is happy. You have taught me, and looked after me, and cared for me. You have been my friend and also my lover," Kyle smiled gratefully while Eric paused. The prince snickered and with his free hand ran his hand through Kyle's curls. "But you are also as beautiful as a desert flower, and your hair just as red."

Kyle chuckled, flushing under Eric's touch. But when Kyle looked at Eric, his expression wasn't light or playful, it was thoughtful and clouded with an intensity that had previously perturbed Kyle but now fascinated him.

"Kyle, I love you."

Kyle's stomach lurched at the confession and prompted his heart to bounce into his throat. He stiffened from the shock, and Eric's wide-eyed stare showed he was just as startled though the words came from his mouth. His eyes twitched and studied Kyle's face and Kyle was so stunned he was slow to register the nervous hand slide from his hair. He had to grab the opportunity before it vanished for good, so he threw himself on top of Eric and smashed their stinging lips together. Kyle took advantage of Eric's surprise and pushed his tongue into his mouth, kissing him hard and enthusiastically, giving him the reaction he deserved.

When Kyle pulled away Eric's smile was wobbly and his lashes were damp, they exchanged laboured breaths and Kyle bobbed up and down gently above Eric's heaving chest.

"I love you too," Kyle said, breathless, before smiling wetly and stroking Eric's face. "You're the best discovery I ever made."

* * *

If there was one thing Kyle knew about Doctor Kenny McCormick it was that he didn't sugar-coat things and he rarely exaggerated (unless it was how fun a night out would be, and Kyle knew that Kenny's expectations were more luring than realistic). So when Kyle received an email from him entitled 'Breakthrough', his excitement and restlessness until he and Eric would meet Kenny in his lab were perfectly justified.

It was Wednesday and Kyle and Eric had arrived at Kenny's lab promptly at 10 AM, where a beaming Doctor McCormick was waiting to greet them.

"Okay, so as you know, we've been running countless tests on this stuff, trying to figure out where it came from," Kenny began to explain after his offer of coffee was rejected. Kyle guessed Eric didn't trust his own throat either, so tight with anticipation that nothing could slide down it. "Was it some kind of nectar or sap… so we started to research the natural history of the region where you guys went on your excavation, profiled the vegetation and wildlife that is present today and traced everything back to their ancestors, we're talking over a millennia ago. And we came across…"

Kenny left the sentence hanging to turn to his open laptop. He brought up an image of palm trees dotted along the massive Nile.

"A palm tree," Kenny smiled. "They line the Nile for miles. Does this look familiar to you Eric?"

Kyle and Kenny both looked to Eric for his answer, but Eric was still concentrated on the picture in front of him, brow furrowed. Ever since Eric had revealed his past to him over dinner, Kyle felt he had a keener awareness of what being reminded of his old home elicited in Eric.

"Y-y-yes, of course they do," Eric replied, finally addressing Kenny.

"Not all the trees, but a significant number of them, bore a very rare fruit that is specific to that species of palm tree," Kenny continued, zooming in on the image. It blurred for a minute but soon revealed bulbous amber fruit, so large that the tree sagged with the exhaustion of carrying it. "See it?"

"They're huge," Kyle commented a crease in his brow too. "They look like cantaloupes. But cantaloupes don't grow on trees, do they?"

Kenny snickered smugly. "No, they don't, doctor. And I'm not exaggerating here when I say there is no other fruit like it. Luckily, these fruits still grow today though their numbers have declined over the years. We managed to get our hands on one and had it flown over here, so we could see for sure whether it was the answer we've all been searching for."

With that Kenny walked away from his perplexed and eager audience, and just like those who watch a narrative unfold on stage, they expressed their curiosity during the brief intermission. Albeit silently, exchanging dumbfounded looks, a subtle comfort.

Kenny returned from the lab's storage room with two petri dishes, both held identical samples of an amber jelly that resembled Eric's makeshift tomb. His fair eyebrow was arched; in fact his whole face seemed to be operated by an arrogant string.

"Guess which one is the sample from the slab and which one was taken from the fruit?" He asked.

Kyle and Eric peered closely at the petri dishes, glancing back and forth but the more they looked the more the similarities grew.

"I, I can't," Kyle replied. "They're identical."

"Exactly, when we opened the fruit the insides weren't congealed like they are now, it was a lot thinner. Kind of like apple juice," Kenny mused. "But we left it for four days and it quickly congealed and looked totally like the amber. Finally we had a breakthrough, but before we could get too excited, we had to see whether the fruit was capable of performing the same miracles as the amber slab that had preserved you, Eric."

The prince blinked and shifted in his chair, his curiosity had transcended into hope and despite the remarkable evidence Kyle was cautious. But his scepticism was bred out of concern. The last thing he wanted was for Eric to be disappointed.

"How?" He quickly asked. "Eric was in that slab for thousands of years it would be impossible to do a similar experiment…"

Kenny didn't take offence, instead he replied with a smile, "You're very rarely wrong Kyle, but in this instance you are. We had a lab mouse that had died of natural causes and we placed its body in the jelly the fruit juice had turned into. We left it for a week and it still hadn't decomposed. The following week we came into the lab and it was alive and trying to gnaw through the jelly. So, there you have it, magic fruit."

"Oh…" Kyle whispered, his shoulders slouching and his doubt leaving him. His face was rather warm as, admittedly, he felt embarrassed of his reservations. But when he turned to Eric, reeling with sparkling eyes, he wasn't able to feel emotions so selfish and petty - only relief and the calm rumblings of euphoria. "Oh my god…"

"I know," Kenny grinned, his arrogance now laced with excitement.

Kyle shook his head, unable to catch his breath he was so flabbergasted. "This is unbelievable and incredible and- what do we do now?"

"Well, we still have a lot to study, but can you imagine the impact this would have on science?" Kenny replied, eyes glinting and his gaze was far from the lab, or the present. "On medicine?"

"It could change the world!" Kyle agreed.

"But we need to give credit where credit is due," Kenny added. "Eric, your people obviously knew about the capabilities of this fruit way before we did. Maybe they didn't anticipate it reviving people, but they knew it could be used in embalming."

Eric had been so silent and when Kyle looked at him he could tell he was stewing in the blissful aftermath of finally _knowing_.

"Thank you, Kenny," he smiled, as noble and regal as he was born to be. Even if that was a destiny he had left in the sand.

* * *

It wasn't a coincidence that on the same day Kyle had been asked to visit Kenny's lab, he had also received an email from Doctor Victoria requesting a meeting in her office. In light of what Kyle knew from the biology department, it made sense that Doctor Victoria and the PR team had taken their time in revealing anything to him and Eric, as well as to the public. It wouldn't have fared well for the museum if they couldn't answer any of the questions posed by the media concerning Eric; humiliating Kyle's esteemed colleagues and unnerving everybody else that they had no feasible explanation for why such a terrific anomaly had occurred.

As much as it frustrated Kyle that the PR team were at a standstill, he supposed it had made his job of teaching and befriending Eric a little easier. If they had been hounded by the press and put under such intense speculation and scrutiny right off the bat, then Eric would have only been more bewildered. But Kyle wasn't naive, he knew these quiet, enlightening months spent with Eric was the proverbial calm. However, his fierce, intimate bond with Eric made them both believe they could brace the storm together.

So when he had entered Doctor Victoria's office with Eric, he only felt adrenaline at the challenges ahead, rather than the apprehension he had felt when this all seemed like a bizarre, lucid dream.

"Eric, Doctor Broflovski, I must say I am very impressed by the progress here," Doctor Victoria beamed. "It's amazing!"

"Thank you," Eric replied, with a slight, humble nod.

"Yes, thank you, ma'am," Kyle added a tad more exuberantly. "It's been astounding."

Doctor Victoria's small smile hinted at a pride Kyle knew she didn't hand out generously to her colleagues.

"So I've heard you had a meeting with Doctor McCormick this morning on their findings at the biology department," she said.

"Yes, ma'am it was very enlightening and I'm so pleased."

"Well, needless to say the press already wants to conduct interviews with Doctor McCormick and his team, and hold a conference with us here at the museum," Doctor Victoria continued. "We believe this event would be appropriate for, well, introducing Eric."

Kyle nodded, before turning to Eric and asking, "Is that alright?"

Eric smiled reassuringly when he noticed Kyle's eyes on him.

"Yes, that is fine," he replied, before asking Kyle, "will you be there?"

Kyle glanced at Doctor Victoria before he answered Eric's question. "Yes, I will."

Eric didn't reply, instead he reached for Kyle's hand and held it. Although that was a well-established gesture between them, Eric's boldness surprised Kyle and made his skin prickle hotly. But despite his embarrassment, he didn't let go. He would never want to brush Eric off so easily. Doctor Victoria's smug smile erased Kyle's own dreamy smirk, she had obviously noticed.

Turning her attention away from the blushing Egyptologist, she asked, "So what's next, Eric?"

"I want to be a, uh, photographer," he replied.

Doctor Victoria nodded, eyebrows raised. "Oh, really? How interesting."

"Yes, he's already shown great promise, ma'am," Kyle said, seizing any opportunity to praise Eric to his boss. "Our next task is filling out an application for a community college course as well as some other necessary paperwork."

"And do you feel you have settled in, Eric?" She asked. "Are you happy here?"

Kyle felt the weight of Eric's gaze on him, but the gold didn't drag him down. When he glanced at his prince, it was the adoring, peaceful expression on his face that made him plummet. It overwhelmed him and humbled him and finally decimated any lingering expectations Kyle had had of his find when they first laid eyes on each other in the desert; an amber, transcendent Fall ago. When everything simultaneously changed and clicked for Kyle, for them both.

"Yes," Eric replied, giving Kyle's damp hand a tender squeeze. "I'm very happy."

Kyle nodded in agreement, as speechless as he was during that night of beginnings in the lab.


End file.
